Poison (or the most uncreative title)
by YouFightThoseFairies
Summary: Arthur didn't really know what they actually were. Magical creatures, giant black beakless birds with agile wings, sharp claws and poisonous tongues, who knew no mercy. Arthur scanned the dead bodies until he suddenly spotted the only one without a chain mail. Merlin. I first didn't want to post this ff because it medically/chemically makes no sense. But let's just pretend it does


Dozens of lifeless bodies were laying on the field like it's been raining men. „Check for survivors", Arthur demanded and the knights spread out. Gwaine lead half of the group east, Elyan the other half north. The crown prince didn't follow the others. He was heading south, where the forest began. He had told Merlin to hide in the woods and god knew if the idiot made it.

Usually, when the knights were under attack, Merlin could just keep out of the fight and hide behind a tree. Bandits or knights from hostile kingdoms didn't care about him because he wasn't a thread. They were quite busy trying to stay alive and kill their direct opponent. No one aimed at a serving boy when they could aim for the future king.

But on the wide open field there was nowhere to hide and their attackers weren't human. Arthur didn't really know what they actually were. Magical creatures, giant black beakless birds with agile wings, sharp claws and poisonous tongues, who knew no mercy. There was no stopping them and Camelot had lost many brave men today. But the legend said these nameless beasts loved silver so maybe, just maybe, they would have found Merlin less interesting than the knights in their shiny armours.

Arthur kept his scratched arm in a relieving posture as he walked towards the forest.

He scanned the bodies until he suddenly spotted the only one without a chain mail. Merlin's head with the dark messy hair laid on one side and his right arm was reaching out. Just a few inches away from his fingers was the hilt of a sword. Merlin's left leg was covered in blood and was unnaturally sticking out of his body.

No, no, no, please. For a second Arthur just stood there and starred at the slim body. It felt like his rib cage shrank, slowly crushing his lungs and heart. No, please.

And then Arthur ran. He didn't even slow down when he reached Merlin, he just let himself fall down right beside his friend. "Merlin!" Merlin's eyes sprang open and Arthur's rib cage finally snapped back, filling his lungs with air.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"What the _hell_ are you doing?!" Arthur starred at him in disbelieve.

"I figured the bird creatures wouldn't kill someone who already seems dead."

"That worked out... _very _well."

Merlin grinned. "Did I scary you?"

"No", Arthur immediately replied and got off his knees.

"I did, didn't I?"

"Shut up, _Mer_lin!" Arthur reached out his hand. Merlin grabbed it but when the blonde pulled him up he winced. Arthur was so surprised that he let go and Merlin fell back on the ground which knocked the breath out him for a second. He slowly breathed out deeply. As Arthur was still frozen Merlin mumbled: "Thanks _prat_. M' leg..."

"Yeah sorry." Arthur realised Merlin's injury was more serious than he anticipated. He ripped his shirt beneath his armour and tied the cloth around the wound. "Can you walk?"

"I can try."

This time Arthur help him up more gentle and placed his other hand on Merlin's shoulder blade. When Merlin came closest to standing, Arthur put Merlin's arm around his shoulders and wrapped his own around Merlin's back. Merlin couldn't carry his own weight and completely leaned against Arthur. He prince glanced at the barely opened eyes, the heavy lids obviously wanted nothing more that to shut. "You need to stay awake." Arthur said without any insult or mockery. He didn't mean to worry Merlin but he just couldn't think of anything creative right now. And they didn't have much time. Merlin opened his eyes as wide as he could and took a deep breath. He took a step with his right foot, pulled the hurt leg behind and nearly lost his balance.

"Alright, alright. This won't work." Arthur took a look around but couldn't spot anything of use, and they probably were too far away from the knights so be heard. So Arthur had to carry him alone. "Get on my back." Arthur got down and Merlin laid both hands on his shoulders. As Arthur's wounded arm moved the pain crawled all the way up to his neck. Not many people could have read Arthur's small reaction but Merlin... was Merlin. He knew him too well. "Your arm. What happened?"

"Don't talk, save your energy. I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"That's an order, Merlin."

"Fine."

What Arthur did need was putting pressure on Merlin's wound to stop the bleeding, otherwise he wouldn't make it to Camelot. They were lucky: When Arthur lifted Merlin on his back, his arm was exactly next to the already bloody cloth so all he needed to do was clam it. Merlin flinched. "Sorry, but I have to", Arthur said and started walking.

He could tell Merlin was in agony and tried to be extra careful whenever he had to step over a stone, branch or... body. That wasn't something he was ready to think about yet.

Soon Merlin went limp and his head was wobbling. He must have passed out.

In the middle of the field, where the knights had spread out, Arthur didn't see anybody. It seemed like they had to get to Camelot by themselves. He carried on walking, left the field, walked through the woods. Merlin wasn't heavy but along with his armour and sword gravity was pulling him down. It was exhausting but whenever he was about to take a break he felt Merlin's cold cheek at his head and reminded himself who he was doing this for.

When they finally arrived at the gates of Camelot, he nearly bumped into Gwaine and Elyan, who apparently wanted to head back to look for them.

Elyan say Merlin and froze. "Oh no..."

"He's alive", Arthur replied shortly.

Gwaine approached them. "I'll take him."

"No, don't!" Arthur clamoured harshly although he knew that his knight only wanted to help. "Don't", he repeated more quietly. "He's in enough pain already, I don't want to move him more than I have to."

Gwaine took another step. "But you can barely walk! Just let me..."

"NO!", Arthur interrupted. The word hovered in the air as he grimly starred at Gwaine. Elyan moved and Arthur looked over to him. He felt his heartbeat in his head and how weak his legs had become but he... just couldn't. "He's my responsibility", Arthur said a lot softer and not only because his energy was drained. Elyan nodded. "I understand." Then he broke the eye contact. "Gwaine, we should list the fallen knights, talk to the families, prepare an honourable burial."

The prince gave Elyan a thankful nod.

"Take care and keep our Merlin alive, would you? And Leon and Percival too, we found them and took them to Gaius."

Arthur was relieved that at least some of his finest knights made it back to Camelot alive but he couldn't answer. He needed to get Merlin to Gaius before the last bit of adrenalin left him.

But the physician wasn't in his chambers. Gwen was sitting next to the unconscious Percival (who was too tall to be completely covered by his blanket) and through the open door Arthur could see Leon laying in Merlin's bed. But Gaius wasn't there.

"What happened? Are you two alright?" Gwen immediately got up.

"Not really, where can I put Merlin?"

The serving girl rushed to get some rugs she could spread on the ground, folded a pillow out of a jacket and helped Arthur to carefully put Merlin down who groaned and blinked, confusion written all over his face. "It's okay", Arthur said. "You're home."

Merlin closed his eyes again. Maybe he was drifting again, maybe just concentrating on his breathing. The blond turned around to Gwen. "Where is Gaius, why isn't he here?!"

"His getting some sort of special plant for an antidote."

Arthur started taking off his armour while Gwen explained. Everything ached.

"Leon and Percival are showing symptoms of the poison now even though they haven't been touched by the tongue. It doesn't make any sense. If the claws were poisonous they would have been dead by now but the symptoms only started when they had been here for a while. They are dying, Arthur, and there's nothing I can do. They haven't got much time left."

Only now Arthur realised how exhausted and worried Gwen was too, and he felt bad that he didn't ask her if she was okay. He laid a hand on her cheek and made her look him in the eyes. "You trust Gaius, don't you? He knows what he's doing, he'll be back in time and cure them."

Gwen nodded but still had this sad look on her face. Leon made a noise, like an odd spitting sound, and she walked towards the other room. "And I know you will look after them as good as you can and that's all you can do." Gwen turned around before she closed the door.

"Thank you, Arthur."

Arthur fetched the water bucket and a towel, sat down next to Merlin's leg and took off the bloody cloth. The wound look disgusting and smelled of the discharged pus.

"How... bad?" Merlin couldn't even bring out a full sentence anymore.

"It's just a scratch, don't be such a girl." Arthur wet the towel but when he was just about to clean the wound Merlin pulled his leg away. "_Mer_lin!"

"No."

Arthur frowned. "It's full of dirt. Do you want to get an infection?" He reached out with the towel again but got the same reaction.

"Don't."

"The water isn't even cold. Seriously every child is easier to treat than you." But Merlin didn't break eye contact. He didn't even blinked. He just starred at him determinately.

"I want to help you, idiot", Arthur sighed and cautiously laid a hand next to the lesion. "I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

Merlin starred at him for another second but seemed to consider to change his mind. "Fine." He finally looked away.

Cleaning the wound worked out quite well and feeling like he was a great doctor Arthur went to check on Percival as well.

The unconscious knight was drooling and sweat drops were sparkling on his forehead. For a second Arthur couldn't tell if he was still breathing so he placed two fingers on his wrist. Percival's heartbeat was slow but seemed steady. He did breathe, Arthur realised now, just very slowly. And drooled like a baby. Arthur wiped it away but didn't really know what else to do. Percival's stomach was already perfectly bandaged and Arthur didn't know anything about which herbs might ease the pain. Maybe he wasn't such a great doctor after all.

And not such a great crown prince too. He had lead his knights into this fight and led a lot of them to their death. His thoughts wondered off back to the field and he saw in his inner eye how Percival hewed off one bird's tongue before it could touch Arthur.

He wasn't really sure if it was a good thing so many men would die for him. It's comforting to know someone would protect him but most of the time he just got everyone in danger because of him. Well... if he wouldn't have gone after the birds the whole population of Camelot would have been in danger and not just the knights, who were the most able to keep themselves alive, but still.

"How's Merlin?" He hadn't heard Gwen come back in.

"He's asleep." They both looked over to Merlin, who was facing the other way.

"Then let me take care of your arm." Gwen directed him through the room and gently pushed Arthur on a chair, the one that stood next to Merlin's feet. Arthur wasn't sure if Gwen kind of knew that he would feel better if he could keep an eye on Merlin today. The guilt of not securing Merlin's getaway from the birds was nagging at him. But he had been too busy. And now he was too busy drowning in his thoughts to notice Gwen examining his arm. He was the crown prince for god's sake, he should really get his act together and be helpful instead of pitting what happened. Arthur lifted the water bucket for Gwen, so she could wash his wound. Suddenly he whole bucket flew out of his hands and the water splashed on the ground and over Arthur's feet.

"_Mer_lin, again?! What is it with you and the water today?" He shook his foot and gave Merlin an irritated look. But Merlin's eyes proved Arthur that the boy hadn't just been clumsy like usual, but had definitively kicked the bucket on purpose. It took Arthur a moment to realise something was very off and didn't move until the dark haired head fell back. Merlin couldn't even keep it turned around. Gwen had already gone down and placed a hand on his sweating forehead when Arthur realised how much Merlin's pupils had widen and that was drooling like the others.

"_How_ did he get poisoned?! He was okay a few minutes ago!" Arthur bellowed.

"I don't get it either, on the battle field they died in a few minutes, didn't they? But our patients here have been in the house for half a day."

"How the hell can they be poisoned now?! And why am I still perfectly fine then?!"

"I don't know, so stop yelling!"

Yeah, right, that's the way a great king acts. Yelling changes everything. Camelot will be very lucky to have him as their leader soon. "Sorry. I just... erm..." Arthur gesticulated with his hand. He couldn't even find the right bloody words! In that split second he couldn't resist the urge to punch something and knocked the bucket over. It clashed loud as it got knocked over and Merlin jerked.

"Stop it!" Gwen grabbed Arthur's arm. "We need to keep a clear head."

"I know, I know." He massaged his temples with both hands. "I'm sorry."

"So... it's impossible they have been poisoned like the others and are still alive isn't it? They started showing symptoms here. What if they got poisoned here?"

"How?"

Arthur furrowed his brows. "So... Merlin boycotted the water twice because it triggers the poison and we poured it on everyone's wounds, but not on mine yet so I'm the only one who's still fine...?" He wasn't really convinced with his own theory but Gwen shrugged. "Possibly?"

Arthur gingerly turned Merlin on his back. His eyes twitched but probably was trying to look at Arthur. "Merlin, do you think there's something wrong with the water?"

"Y's. Clot. Pole." Getting these three syllables out was a struggle but apparently better than nodding. Merlin looked awful. Even paler than usual and sweaty. "Didn't I tell you to not act like a baby? And now look at you drooling like one!" Arthur said so the insult wasn't awkwardly hanging in the air. Maybe it was a bit weird that an insult to the prince wasn't awkward but not shooting back was. In fact, Merlin's insult made him feel a little bit better. But nothing couldn't make him forget the unfortunate situation for even second. Whatever Merlin's reason to believe the water was poisonous was, he was probably right. He was a clumsy fool, but an intelligent one.

This meant that Arthur was responsible for his condition. He had insisted on cleaning the wound even though Merlin had been suspicious. And it also meant that after becoming the living prove of his own theory Merlin had saved Arthur from getting poisoned as well.

Suddenly the door swung open and Gaius rushed in. "Gwen, could you please give me a hand? We just have to add this and heat the potion up a little, but we should hurry." Gaius lifted his bag on the table and finally noticed Arthur and Merlin.

"Gaius, I'm sorry, I should have..."

"How is he, sire?" Usually the physician would never interrupt a noble but Arthur understood that time was precious and told him all details as quickly as possible. "His leg got wounded by the claws. He didn't show any symptoms of being poisoned when we got here but now's sweating and drooling, has enlarged pupils, slow heart beat and breath rate. Exactly like the others. We think it might been somehow caused by the water I cleaned his wound with."

Gaius nodded while he quickly showed Gwen how much of the plant she should add to the herbs so she could heat up the two potions up and already started mixing more of the antidote. A lot more.

His voice was calm but worry was written all over this face. "I had time to think when I searched for the herbs. The legend has it that the birds can only be killed if the source of their poison gets chopped off. The knights died shortly after being touched by their tongues so it seemed to be the poisonous part of the creatures. But when you chopped it off it didn't die. So what if the tongue isn't the source? All men had been hurt by the claws. So I'm thinking the claws are actually the source of the poison."

Arthur looked down at his blood encrusted arm.

"You'll be fine. I think by their tongues the birds activate or more probable accelerate the poisoning process. And that's how they all died." Gaius had to concentrate on pouring a yellow liquid into the pot. "Their tongues are pretty wet. It's quite different to water but as it seems water makes the venom go deep enough to pump throw one's veins – just not as fast. But if we wait any longer they will die to. Gwen, you can give these two Sir Leon and Sir Percival. Make sure they drink all of it."

"And what about Merlin?" Arthur asked.

"He was the last one getting in touch with the water. I'm nearly finished making more of the antidote. You and the other survivors will have to drink it too. But you've got some time. I suggest you go to King Uther, he's looking for you." Arthur didn't look very happy about so Gaius added: "He's worried sick. And the healing process will take some time anyway."

Arthur nodded and got up. When he went to the door, he turned around. "I appreciate your work, Gaius. Without you we would have lost so many people."

Merlin's head felt like it was about to explode, the bitter taste in his mouth nearly made him gag and his leg burned like hell. It had gotten dark outside and all Merlin could see was the flickering light of a candle on the wall. He turned around to the source of the light and saw Arthur sitting in front of the table, pondering over something on the table that Merlin couldn't see from his angle. What was the future king doing in his servants chambers in the late evening? For a moment Merlin just watched the blond and waited for the pressure in his head to disappear. It didn't go away but got a little bit better after a few minutes.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked and completely pulled Arthur out of his thoughts.

"You're awake!" He immediately got up. "Feeling any better?"

"I guess so. What have you been studying?"

When Arthur stood up he had let go of the paper and it had rolled back up. Merlin couldn't see much of it but he was certain that it didn't belong to Gaius. The paper was to expensive. did that mean Arthur had gone but came back with the paper? He could have just studied it in his own chambers...

"It's a map. I think I'm pretty close to finding out where these birds are living so we can put an end to this. Does your leg need a new bandage?"

There were a lot of thoughts in Merlin's head but he couldn't catch any of it at the moment. They were all spinning. He looked down to his leg. "I don't think so..."

"Gaius made you and the knights an antidote against the poison. You'll be okay in a few days. The wound on your leg will probably take longer to heal."

"Can you promise me something?" Merlin asked.

"What?"

"I'll say what when you promise you'll do as I say."

Arthur sighed. "Don't give me that I'm-hurt-so-I-can-ask-you-to-do-anything stuff. You know I'm the prince, I can't just promise you anything."

Merlin frowned.

"Come on now, out with it." Arthur said.

"Don't go after the birds without me."

Arthur sighed again and turned away. "Get some rest."

"Arthur, I'm serious."

"I have to protect my people and if that means killing those birds before they attack Camelot then be it."

"You can wait a couple days, it'll be fine. Wait for me."

Arthur smiled. "You're useless with a sword."

Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm. "I'm not. Please. We lost so many today, I don't wanna..." He didn't finish his sentence. Arthur looked at him for moment.

"Fine", he said then and Merlin smiled. "But you better hurry recovering. It's late, you should sleep."

Merlin agreed but wasn't sure if he could. He was tired, very tired, but everything hurt. "You had a long day too."

Arthur understood what Merlin was implying but shook his head. "I'm gonna stay until Gaius is back. Someone has to think of a plan."

"Where is Gaius?"

"He's bringing everyone hurt by a claw the antidote and wants to get a knight to take Leon home. Percival is not quite ready to transfer yet but Leon is recovering good so you'll have your room back soon. How old is Gaius? Working this late... he's a good man."

"He is." Merlin said with a smile.

In the morning Merlin woke up in his own bed although he had no idea how he got there. Despite the pain he had fallen asleep quite fast. The antidote had done a miracle: his head stopped aching, he wasn't sweating like a pig anymore and luckily didn't awkwardly drooled either. With his elbows he pushed himself into a sitting position and carefully tried to get out of bed. A groan passed his lips when he moved his leg.

He heard Gaius voice through the door. "Merlin, are you awake?"

"Yes I am."

"And you're alive?"

"I think so."

Merlin heard the familiar foot steps and the door opened creaking. "Well that's good to hear."

Not only Gaius looked after him that, but later on Merlin also got a surprise visit from Gwaine. It was nice having him around, because he was joking around like always, even though he did look tried. He probably had been worrying about Merlin, Percival and the others too.

Merlin started questioning him about Arthur and his plans. He knew Arthur. Camelot's well being was the most important thing to him and he didn't exactly give Merlin a vow or promise that he wouldn't dare to break. He just said 'fine' and Merlin wasn't so sure anymore that this was enough. But Gwaine assured him that Arthur was still in Camelot and didn't really have a plan how they could defeat the beasts.

"He can be very lucky then to have such a sharp servant." Merlin said and explained to him how they could lure the beast into a trip with silver.

"That might work!" Gwaine exclaimed.

"But you can't tell Arthur yet. Tell him I have a good idea but he needs to vow. He'll know what I mean."

In that exact moment the door opened again and Arthur came in.

"What are you doing here again?" Merlin said.

"I was just..."

"Merlin has an idea how to defeat the birds!" Gwaine interrupted impatiently as Arthur was searching for something to say.

"What is it?"

"You have to vow."

"You don't trust my word!" Arthur said indignantly.

"I'm just making sure I can."

"Fine, I _swear_ on my father's life. But only because our chances would be a lot smaller without Leon and Percival."

"Of course, sire", Merlin said seriously.

Arthur raised a warning finger. "But you better make sure you recover as soon as possible. You still look awful."


End file.
